Marcus Lewis

Marcus Lewis

Republican Party

Candidate, U.S. House Illinois District 1

Elections and appointments

Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

High school

De La Salle Institute, 1977

Bachelor's

DePaul University

Personal

Profession

Ordained Apostolic Pentecostal Minister

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Marcus Lewis (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 1st Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Lewis received a bachelor's degree in business management and banking from DePaul University and a high school degree from the De La Salle Institute in 1977. His professional experience includes working for the United States Postal Service as a mail handler from 1997 to 2014 and as an ordained Apostolic Pentecostal Minister.

Elections

2026

See also: Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Incumbent Jonathan Jackson and Joely Faren King are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jonathan Jackson
		Joely Faren King

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Brian Kovaka, Marcus Lewis, and Christian Maxwell are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Brian Kovaka
		Marcus Lewis
		Christian Maxwell

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)

Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Incumbent Jonathan Jackson defeated Marcus Lewis in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson (D)	65.8	208,398
		Marcus Lewis (R)	34.1	108,064
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	45

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 316,507
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Incumbent Jonathan Jackson advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson	100.0	72,420

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 72,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Marcus Lewis defeated Montelle Gaji in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marcus Lewis	80.0	15,282
		Montelle Gaji	20.0	3,814

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,096
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Lewis received the following endorsements.

• Illinois Family Action

2022

See also: Illinois' 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Jonathan Jackson defeated Eric Carlson, Tori Nicholson, and Babette Peyton in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson (D)	67.0	159,142
		Eric Carlson (R)	33.0	78,258
	Submit photo	Tori Nicholson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	13
		Babette Peyton (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	12

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 237,425
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mitchel Davilo (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Jackson	28.2	21,607
		Pat Dowell	19.0	14,594
		Karin Norington-Reaves	14.1	10,825
		Jacqueline Collins	12.1	9,299
		Chris Butler	5.4	4,141
		Jahmal Cole	5.3	4,045
		Jonathan Swain	3.3	2,554
		Michael Thompson	2.2	1,680
	Submit photo	Charise Williams	2.1	1,601
		Cassandra Goodrum	1.9	1,422
		Marcus Lewis	1.2	901
		Robert Palmer	1.2	899
	Submit photo	Nykea Pippion McGriff	1.2	892
		Terre Layng Rosner	1.0	780
	Submit photo	Ameena Nuur Matthews	0.9	686
		Kirby Birgans	0.7	511
		Steven DeJoie	0.3	251

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 76,688
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Darius Dee Nix (D)
• J. Darnell Jones (D)
• Howard Spiller (D)
• Michael Payne (D)
• Stephany Rose Spaulding (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1

Eric Carlson defeated Jeff Regnier, Geno Young, and Philanise White in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 1 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Eric Carlson	40.5	10,755
		Jeff Regnier	39.0	10,375
	Submit photo	Geno Young	14.5	3,853
		Philanise White	6.0	1,598

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,581
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Matthew O'Keefe (R)

2020

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2020

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Theresa Raborn in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	78.8	234,896
		Theresa Raborn (R)	21.2	63,142

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 298,038
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	84.8	94,767
		Marcus Lewis	15.2	16,942

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,709
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Morrow (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Theresa Raborn advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Raborn	100.0	12,181

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,181
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated David Merkle in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	80.7	183,816
		David Merkle (R)	19.3	43,875

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 227,691 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	82.1	80,659
		Marcus Lewis	17.9	17,640

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 98,299
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

David Merkle defeated Patrick Harmon and John Morrow in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Merkle	36.6	4,963
	Submit photo	Patrick Harmon	35.5	4,810
		John Morrow	27.9	3,790

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 13,563
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Robin Kelly (D) defeated John Morrow (R), the only Republican to file, in the general election on November 8, 2016. Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis, Dorian Myrickes and Charles Rayburn in the Democratic primary on March 15, 2016.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robin Kelly Incumbent	79.8%	235,051
	Republican	John Morrow	20.2%	59,471
Total Votes				294,522
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Robin Kelly Incumbent	73.9%	115,752
Marcus Lewis	16.1%	25,280
Charles Rayburn	6.1%	9,559
Dorian Myrickes	3.8%	6,002
Total Votes		156,593
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014

Lewis ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 2nd District. He ran as an Independent candidate.

He was removed as a Democratic candidate from the ballot on January 9, 2014, and was defeated in his write-in bid in the general election.

2013

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District special election, 2013

Lewis ran as an Independent candidate in the 2013 special election for the U.S. House, representing Illinois' 2nd District. Lewis was defeated in the general election. The general election took place on April 9, 2013.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 Special Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robin Kelly	70.7%	58,834
	Republican	Paul McKinley	22.1%	18,387
	Independent	Elizabeth Pahlke	3%	2,525
	Green	LeAlan M. Jones	1.8%	1,531
	Independent	Marcus Lewis	1.6%	1,359
	Independent	Curtis Llong Bey	0.7%	548
	Write-in	Steve Piekarczyk	0%	9
Total Votes				83,193
Source: Results via Illinois State Board of Elections

Election controversy

Lewis risked his job with his election bid. Lewis, as a United States Postal Service employee, is thus included under the Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from running for a partisan office. Lewis could have ended his campaign to put a stop to any legal action being taken against him, but he refused.

Lewis has argued that the Hatch Act refers only to candidates of a political party, not independents. Additionally, he has stated that he hopes the controversy over his candidacy might get him more votes. He said, " I’m running as ‘Mr. Lewis goes to Washington,’ just like Mr. Smith went to Washington, and this shows that the people in power don’t want ordinary citizens in office. I figure people will identify with that and vote for me."

2012

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012

Lewis ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 2nd District. Lewis ran as an Independent and was defeated by incumbent Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D) in the November 6 general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse Jackson Jr. Incumbent	63.3%	188,303
	Republican	Brian Woodworth	23.2%	69,115
	Independent	Marcus Lewis	13.5%	40,006
Total Votes				297,424
Source: Illinois Board of Elections "2012 General Election Official Vote Totals"

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marcus Lewis has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Marcus Lewis, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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You can ask Marcus Lewis to fill out this survey by using the button below.

2024

Marcus Lewis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Lewis' campaign website stated the following:

“	SWIFT ACTION IS NEEDED NOW. TO THE 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS CONSTITUENTS, TIME FOR VOTING IS HERE! THE DECISION TO CHANGE DIRECTION IS NOVEMBER 5TH, 2024. I ASK FOR YOUR VOTE. WE DON’T WANT ANY MORE FROM JONATHAN JACKSON KNOWINGLY FLOODING THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS INTO OUR DISTRICT. WE DON’T WANT MORE INFLATION, CAN’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD A HOME, HIGH GAS PRICES, HIGH FOOD PRICES, OUR COUNTRY IS IN CHAOS AND DISARRAY! OUR DISTRICT IS SUFFERING NEEDLESSLY. ITS ALL BECAUSE WE HAVE THE WRONG PERSON REPRESENTING OUR DISTRICT. OUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS AND WHO YOU VOTE FOR IS WHO EVENTUALLY MAY REPRESENT US FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC. I AM THE RIGHT PERSON TO REPRESENT US. I WILL FIGHT FOR US AND OUR FAMILIES TO PROSPER AND TAKE HOLD OF EVIL AND DESTROY IT ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FROM PREDATORS THAT FILL THEIR HEADS WITH IDEAS THAT WILL RUIN THEIR FUTURE. ITS TIME FOR MARCUS LEWIS.	”
—Marcus Lewis' campaign website (2024)

2022

Marcus Lewis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Marcus Lewis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Campaign website

The following issues were listed on Lewis' campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Creating Jobs, Manufacturing, and Rebuilding Our Economy: Our district needs JOBS NOW and Education Grants for our children seeking Higher Learning, not burdensome loans that only make our problems worse. Yes, this is where the Federal Government must play a key role to assist us in getting us to where we want to go. We need our Federal Government where we pay our tax dollars to help alleviate our struggles. That is why the Top 1% has expensive Lobbyists at our Federal Government that only serve "their" interests and you will have me as your intermediator looking out for our best interests at heart at this level. Investment in the 2nd District: This district once was the mecca of the Midwest in terms df industry and manufacturing such as steel. With the advent of seeking lower wages by companies overseas the area is now awash with residents ready to work again right now. A job making things is a good way to work our way out of the hopelessness of joblessness. I therefore see this as a area of innovation and training to make the next product that consumers worldwide will need. The Peotone Airport Project: I, Absolutely, DO NOT SUPPORT the proposed Peotone Airport Project. My opposition to this project is simple; there is not one major airline that has signed on to fly into this proposed airport. I don't believe in building this airport without their long-term confirmed commitment. I feel that this land can be better utilized with the construction of an industrial park for a variety of manufacturers, providing thousands of jobs for our residents. Education: Every child, every youth, every man, every woman has a right to have a quality education. We deserve to be the best for one's self, family and our community, coupled with a first rate education. We are facing an environment that wants to shut off the access to a quality education by closing elementary and secondary schools, and making funding college tuition only through burdensome loans that will haunt the student well into their adulthood. Healthcare: I support the insertion of the PUBLIC OPTION to ObamaCare. Healthcare for all Americans should be a right, as a citizen of this country. Thus I will propose and file bills to transform the Affordable Care Act to become Medicare for All Act. This is an investment this country should have made for all its citizens after seeing the success of the Medicaid/Medicare Programs.	”
—Marcus Lewis' campaign website, http://www.marcuslewisforcongress.org/issues.html

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Marcus Lewis campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Illinois District 1	Candidacy Declared primary	$0	N/A**
2024*	U.S. House Illinois District 1	Lost general	$0	N/A**
2022	U.S. House Illinois District 1	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2018	U.S. House Illinois District 2	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

2026 Elections

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 1

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Footnotes

[show]

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)